100 Players to Watch For in 2016: Teams 79-75

Kyle Pollock Posted On July 5, 2016

With spring ball wrapped up and summer practices starting soon, it’s time to start looking towards the college football season. Many stars from last season such as Derrick Henry, Corey Coleman, Ezekiel Elliott, Laquon Treadwell, and Jared Goff have all graduated or left school, leading to much intrigue and excitement for this season. In this series I will go through my personal top 100 teams entering this college football season, and highlight one player to watch from each team. For some teams, they may not be the most well know players (such as Christian McCaffrey on Stanford or Leonard Fournette on LSU), but rather players who could be potential stars this year or later in their career.

Navy – Jamir Tillman, WR, Senior

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It’s hard to really get excited about any player from one of the service academies in terms of NFL prospects, because in most cases they are required to serve time in their respective branch of the military before entering the league. While I wouldn’t draft him in any devy leagues, Jamir Tillman has been outstanding for the Midshipmen over the past few seasons. He is the team’s big play threat in their triple option offense, as his 20.6 yards per reception was good for 12th in the nation last season. He torched Houston’s defense for five receptions, 162 yards, and a touchdown in what was arguably Navy’s biggest game of the season. The Cougars had Bengals first round pick William Jackson matched up against Tillman for most of the game, and he more than held his own against Jackson. At 6’4”, 205 pounds Tillman has the requisite size to play in the NFL. Ultimately, I doubt that he ever makes it to the league, but he has the best chance of anyone on Navy’s roster to do so.

Georgia Tech – Ricky Jeune, WR, redshirt Junior

Georgia Tech always seems to produce big bodied wide receivers with high market share numbers. Calvin Johnson, Demaryius Thomas, Stephen Hill, and Deandre Smelter all fit this bill coming out of college, and Ricky Jeune could be the next in line of these Yellow Jacket wide receivers. At 6’3”, 214 pounds and a dominator rating of .33, it’s safe to say he has a good chance to be drafted in the next few seasons. I expect Jeune to take a step forward this year and become more of a force for Tech, as he only had 24 receptions last season (which was actually two times as much as the next leading receiver on the team). If he tests well at the combine or at his pro day, I fully expect him to be a mid to late round pick in the draft.

Boston College – Jon Hilliman, RB, Junior

Let’s face it, Boston College had one of the worst offenses in the country last season. This may partially be due to the fact that four games into the season, star running back Jon Hilliman was lost for the year to a torn ACL. In the four games he played, the Eagles averaged over 29 points per game. But in the eight games without him, the team managed to average just over 11 points per game. He was the focal point of the team’s offense and without him the team suffered greatly. Hilliman has a sensational true freshman season, rushing for 860 yards and 13 touchdowns. He rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s shocking upset of USC, and had his best game of the season in the team’s bowl game against Penn State. Hilliman was unstoppable that day rushing for 148 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. He is an extremely powerful and physical runner with solid vision. If he can recover fully from his torn ACL, he could potentially be a steal in the 2018 draft.

Virginia – Taquan Mizzell, RB, Senior

Taquan Mizzell quietly had an extremely impressive season last year, specifically with his receiving ability. Mizzell posted 75 receptions last year, which was good for the second most by a running back in ACC history. Only seven players in the past 15 years have managed to register over 70 receptions and 150 rushes in a single season, with Mizzell being one of them. He reminds me of another player on this list, Jacquizz Rodgers. Both are shifty and elusive in the open field, and are also pretty explosive with the ball in their hands. However, Mizzell is four inches taller than Rodgers, and this could lead to him being a better pro than Rodgers ever was. With a new coach in Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia is expected to take a step forward this year. Hopefully this will further help Mizzell’s development and will give him a better shot at being drafted. With the 2017 running back class expected to be loaded, it may be difficult for Mizzell to get drafted if he doesn’t have a huge season. At the very least, I would fully expect him to latch on with a team as a UDFA, so keep an eye on him this season.

Vanderbilt – Jamauri Wakefield, RB, Freshman

Current starter Ralph Webb will graduate after this season, leaving the door open for Jamauri Wakefield to take over Vanderbilt’s backfield. The 6’1”, 210 pound Wakefield was a three star recruit this year who spurned offers from Maryland, Pittsburgh, Northwestern, and Wake Forest to attend Vanderbilt. While he lacks good long speed, he is an elusive player with solid vision. Since there is little competition at the running back position on Vanderbilt’s roster, I’d expect Wakefield to make an impact sooner rather than later for the Commodores, and he could help lead the program’s turnaround towards SEC and national relevance.

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